Chapter 21 Summary, Analysis, and Discussion Questions
⚠️ Spoiler Warning: This guide contains detailed spoilers for the entire novel. Proceed only if you've finished reading or are comfortable knowing the plot.
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(Note: The chapter is titled “20” but is the 21st chapter in the book.)
Summary
The chapter opens with the narrator waking to her father, Mort, cursing at the Nespresso machine and toaster, unable to figure out how to make coffee or toast. Her mother, Alice, tries to calm him down, and the narrator sends Jamie and Maya to lie in the grandparents' bed. Willa, who missed a planned visit with a friend the night before, is asleep on an inflatable mattress beside the narrator's side of the bed. This prompts a nostalgic recollection: as a child, Willa used to drag her futon into her parents' room at night, angry at having woken alone, and would climb into bed with them, pressing her cold hands and feet against the narrator's stomach. The narrator remembers being a good parent in the night, even if she didn't enjoy daytime play.
The narrator makes coffee for her parents and iced coffee for herself and Nick. Maya rushes to the bathroom, gagging, and the narrator tells her mother that Maya has gastric issues and will see a doctor in New York. The family reads newspapers on the deck and does word puzzles; Nick finishes everything first, and the others rail against his relaxed competence. Nick plays online Scrabble with Luca, the narrator's old boyfriend, and the narrator's father tries to stir up trouble by saying he always liked Luca, but Nick responds affably.
The narrator reflects on Nick's parents, who are difficult in different ways: his mother sends birthday cards with wrong ages or at random times, always saying the same phrase, and is a pill addict; his father compensates by mailing cash. The narrator recalls a trip to Florida where the house smelled of cat pee and cigarettes, and Willa once called her a snob and a classist for complaining. The mother finds a mauve thong on the table, mistaking it for a hairband; Willa laughs and points it out. The narrator packs lunch, making sandwich inquiries, and then applies sunscreen from a tube. Willa reads the label and reveals it's actually foundation, not mineral sunscreen, calling the narrator a hypocrite. The narrator feels humiliated because she likes to think she's not the kind of person who wears makeup, and Willa points out that it ruins the idea she has of herself. The narrator silently acknowledges she has had many ideas about herself that have been ruined.
Key Events
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Mort struggles with the Nespresso and toaster, cursing and needing help from Alice.
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The narrator sends the kids to the grandparents' bed; Willa sleeps on an inflatable mattress beside her.
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The narrator recalls Willa's childhood habit of dragging her futon into the parents' room at night.
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Maya rushes to the bathroom, gagging; the narrator tells her mother about Maya's gastric issues.
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The family reads newspapers and does word puzzles on the deck; Nick finishes first.
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Nick plays online Scrabble with Luca, the narrator's old boyfriend; Mort tries to provoke Nick.
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The narrator reflects on Nick's parents: his mother's mislabeled cards and pill addiction, his father's cash in the mail.
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The mother finds a mauve thong, mistaking it for a hairband; Willa laughs.
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The narrator packs lunch, making sandwich inquiries; her father asks for condiments.
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Willa reveals the narrator's sunscreen is actually foundation, calling her a hypocrite.
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The narrator feels humiliated and reflects on her self-image.
Character Development
The narrator shows her role as a caregiver and mediator. She wakes to her father's frustration and calmly helps, sends the kids away, and makes coffee for everyone. Her nostalgia for Willa's childhood reveals a tender side, but also her self-awareness about her limitations as a parent. She is honest about her discomfort with her in-laws, yet she also acknowledges her own hypocrisy when Willa catches her using foundation. The narrator's internal monologue shows a woman grappling with aging, self-deception, and the gap between her self-image and reality.
Nick is portrayed as calm and unflappable. He laughs at the narrator's whispered observations, remakes the sofa for Mort, and responds to Mort's provocation about Luca with sincere affability. His relaxed competence frustrates the others, but he remains good-natured. His backstory with his own parents—his mother's addiction and his father's cash—shows a man who has made peace with dysfunction.
Willa emerges as a sharp, observant teenager. She points out the thong and the foundation, calling out her mother's hypocrisy with humor and precision. Her earlier comment about classism (recalled by the narrator) shows her critical thinking and willingness to challenge her parents.
Mort and Alice are portrayed as aging and somewhat forgetful. Mort's confusion with appliances and his